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Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

As state parks officials prepare to assume control of Detroit’s Belle Isle Park next month, about 100 people gathered this morning at the Detroit Yacht Club on the island for the first meeting of a citizens advisory committee intended to ensure that Detroiters’ interests are heard.

Belle Isle Park is in transition to becoming Michigan’s 102nd state park, with the full change becoming effective Feb. 10. The city will retain ownership of the park but lease it for 30 years to the state, which says it will make significant improvements and save the city $4 million to $6 million a year.

Starting Feb. 10, on a phased-in basis as their license stickers come up for renewal, motorists will need the $11 state recreation passport to enter the park.

The seven-member board includes a Detroit minister, the owner of a Big Boy restaurant near Belle Isle, an adviser to Mayor Mike Duggan, two City of Detroit department heads, a top executive of Penske Corp. and advocate for the Detroit Grand Prix auto race held on Belle Isle, and the head of the nonprofit Belle Isle Conservancy.

“I’m super excited about the mix on this board,” Shani Penn, a senior strategy adviser to Gov. Rick Snyder, told the group.

A proposed lease of the island became controversial in 2012 as part of the state-city consent agreement when the City Council and some residents voiced concern over the length of the lease — originally 99 years — and the fact that the state offered few specifics as to what improvements would be made.

After months of debate, public hearings and negotiations, the lease was approved in November by the state’s Emergency Loan Board after the City Council rejected the proposed 30-year lease in favor of a shorter deal with stronger guarantees of state funding for park upgrades.

Committee member the Rev. Lonnie Peek Jr., seconding concerns voiced by two audience members at today’s meeting, said he worries that the state park rangers and State Police who will patrol the park will be insensitive to African-American park-goers.

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“We have a culture here on Belle Isle different from any other state park. What might appear to be rowdy to some people is just folks having fun,” Peek said. “I want to see some sensitivity training specifically for the Belle Isle culture.”

State security supervisors replied that their officers already had received such training but would soon be getting a refresher course.

“We don’t want to interfere with anybody’s fun, but if your behavior interferes with anybody else’s fun, we’ll take the appropriate actions,” said Michigan State Police Capt. Monica Yesh.

The park’s official hours of operation under city rules have been to open at 6 a.m. and close at 10 p.m., although those hours have rarely if ever been enforced, committee chair and Belle Isle Conservancy President Michele Hodges said before the meeting.

But soon, those hours are to be enforced, although exceptions will be made for special events, state DNR officials told the committee.

“I’m sure there’s going be further discussion on that in future meetings,” Hodges said. A strict closing at 10 p.m. nightly would interfere with some of Belle Isle’s longstanding traditions, such as family reunion parties that in the past often ran past midnight.

Also at today’s meeting was U.S. 6th Circuit Court Judge Damon Keith, who recited a pledge on behalf of committee members to respect the island’s natural and historic heritage while always acting “for the good of the community.”